A Radical Alternative to Revenge | sujatha baliga

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Feb 22, 2023

Sujatha Baliga, a MacArthur Fellow and leader in restorative justice, shares her transformative journey from childhood trauma to forgiveness. She recounts her profound meeting with the Dalai Lama and how it spurred her healing process. Baliga emphasizes the importance of mindfulness and meditation in personal growth, and discusses how restorative justice can serve as a powerful alternative to traditional punitive systems. Her insights offer practical ways to navigate conflicts and cultivate compassion, inspiring others to rethink their approach to revenge.

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ANECDOTE

Sujata's Journey to Forgiveness

Sujata Baliga experienced childhood abuse and a breakdown before finding solace in Dharamshala.
She had a transformative audience with the Dalai Lama, who advised her to meditate and understand her enemies' humanity.

ANECDOTE

Vipassana and Forgiveness

After her audience with the Dalai Lama, Sujata attended a Vipassana retreat.
During loving-kindness meditation, she forgave her father and experienced relief from physical ailments.

INSIGHT

Mechanism of Forgiveness

Forgiveness isn't a magical outcome of meditation but a process of understanding impermanence.
Observing the constant change in oneself and others can foster compassion and forgiveness.

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Very often, when somebody pisses us off, our first instinct might be to plan some sort of revenge even if we rarely, if ever, actually follow through with it. Obviously, the trait of revenge seeking is counterproductive and it happens to also feel terrible. All the great wisdom traditions tell us that we should be forgiving instead and this isn’t just some sort of finger wagging from the morality police; it’s just straight up good advice. It’s in your best interest not to be coiled up inside endless revenge fantasies. Of course, this is all easier said than done.

Today, though, our guest, sujatha baliga, both says it, and does it. She has an extraordinary story: she was horribly abused by a family member, and then, after an encounter with his Holiness the Dalai Lama, learned how to forgive the seemingly unforgivable. What’s more, she now helps other people do that. Perhaps, starting now, even you.

sujatha baliga is a long time Buddhist practitioner and internationally recognized leader in the field of restorative justice. She was named a 2019 MacArthur Fellow and is working on her first book.

Content Warning: This episode includes multiple references to violent and traumatic experiences, including homicide and incest.

In this episode we talk about:

Her personal story, including her early experience with sexual assault within her family
Her life-changing encounter with his Holiness the Dalai Lama, and her experience with learning to forgive with the help of meditation
Her experience working in the criminal justice system
Her definition of restorative justice, why she believes we need it, and the three key questions it asks in each case
Whether there is evidence that restorative justice works
The limits of restorative justice
What happens if someone who is the victim of a crime does want traditional punishment or even revenge
How you can apply what she’s learned in her life — including her time in the field of restorative justice — to our own lives
And a specific meditation practice that can help you do it

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/sujatha-baliga-565